Hello Tweets,
Today my mother and I scouted a few locations in Lewis Co in close
association to Hwy.12 between I-5 and FR 46 near Packwood. We checked a few
locations that we scouted on the 5th of September with a few new locations
to us including the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery previously reported by Dave
Hayden on the 31st of August, which was one of our main destinations of the
day along with searching for dragonflies at various locations witin Lewis
Co. Due to variable weather conditions after 12pm,which included scattered
rain showers and cooler temperatures we were unable to locate too many
dragonfly species at upper elevations,but good numbers of dragonflies were
noted at Riffe Lake and in the Randle area including Paddle-tailed
Darner,Boreal Bluet, and Western Meadowhawk. We did manage to locate several
shorebirds species at two locations including at the Cowlitz Trout Hachery
which is located south of Hwy.12 along the Cowlitz River and accessed from
Spencer Rd. on page 32 of the WA DeLorme Atlas,BUT permission is needed by
facility personnel to obtain access to the 1 of 3 concrete-lined holding
tank ponds at the west end of the trout hatchery that hosted shorebirds. The
pond that hosted 4 species of shorebirds today is the best of the 3 ponds
that has vegetated margins and is quite low in water level. The other 2
ponds also in the general vicinity have NO vegetation,but still obtain
water. Our visit between 10am-11:30am at the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery was
fairly rewarding with up to 6 species of shorebirds being our main
highlights among other notable species at the location with a generous walk
around the facility grounds. Notable species included:
2 Wood Ducks
5 Osprey
12 Turkey Vultures
2 Killdeer
1 Solitary Sandpiper(presumably the same individual noted by Dave Hayden and
Jim Pruske on the 31st of August)
7 Spotted Sandpipers
1 Least Sandpiper
2 Baird's Sandpiper
1 Pectoral Sandpiper
2 Belted Kingfishers
2 Red-breasted Sapsuckers
1 Willow Flycatcher
1 Warbling Vireo
A single Spotted Sandpiper was noted at the Mossyrock STP along Hwy.12 and a
single adult Sharp-shinned Hawk was observed along Hwy.12 at MP 96,with
another adult near Randle,but much fewer raptors today due to poor weather
conditions,excpet for Turkey Vultures and Osprey noted at several locations
throughout the day.
Our next major stop of the day was made at the north end of Riffe Lake
accessed near the town of Glenoma off Cosmos Rd. at the same location than
noted by my mother and I on the 5th of September. We encountered far less
wind than our previous visit,but with a few light scattered showers and
today we encountered a flock of "peeps" resting on the exposed shoreline of
the Riffe Lake that contained 3 Western Sandpipers and 20 Least
Sandpipers,which was a notable amount for the location. We encountered good
numbers of migrating waterfowl in wet,weedy areas along the shore of Riffe
Lake including:
44 Green-winged Teal
5 Northern Pintail
1 Blue-winged Teal
7 Northern Shovelers
18 Am.Wigeon
5 Hooded Mergansers
Other notable species for the general area included:
2 Osprey
23 Turkey Vultures
5 Common Snipe
3 Band-tailed Pigeons
5 Am.Pipits
On our way home we stopped at Sunset Beach Park on Alder Lake in Pierce
Co.(accessed from Hwy.7 west of Elbe),where a single Greater Yellowlegs was
noted along with 4 nearby Northern Shovelers and a single Blue-winged Teal.
Good birding,
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT@ worldnet.att.net